Home Cinema on the Cheap

[reddog694uk]

i'm cringing looking at this. Check out a wd tv live media player. Has comp and hdmi outputs, ethernet connectors for network connection to your computer home network, accesses shared files from any shared folders on your system, has all the dts dolby surround encoders built in. About the size of two cig packets. Dump the consoles. connect directly to your projector and you're laughing.

[fatfortuna]

PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, Sky+ HD, Apple TV, Pioneer DVD Player, Sharp Projector and Screen, Remote control lights.

Your definitely sorted then, Great Video!

[robster604]

you really should be a presenter on the gadget show!!! good work dude:-)

[csekaro]

Oh boy, you are fantastic!

[martcambs]

also how long do the bulbs last and how much are they?

[martcambs]

exellent vid and well worth 500 quid

[JopoMiniMovies]

When you're watching the film I can imagine you not being able to see the projector but they are quite loud if it's right next to you. Is yours not too loud then?

[aPersonOnYouToob]

Fantastically helpful video. thanks a bunch!

[darockk]

great video, have you thought about ceiling mounting the projector so you dont have to unpack and line it up each time?

[Person395]

is that a valve amp? :O

[gamingmidget]

im going to create my own home entertainment system, thinking of getting 50" plasma but a projector is very tempting :D

[cheeseybreadman]

Great video mate, food for thought. Laters

[voodoomelons]

Nice video, thanks.

[c0m0es]

nice video congrats from chile!

[chris51330]

im getting a home cinema, and if u go on Visual Tronic u can pik up a great one that is compatable with everything for only £199!!!!!! and surround sound for as little as £80 and it has 96watt speakers!!!!! and screens for £60!!! everything u will need!!

[bosyuk]

I enjoyed that thanks.

[Oblivious]

Great video, one thing I think may have helped though, is if you used a stud finder to find a beam in the ceiling rather than drilling holes until hitting something solid. :)

[username8inches]

good video well done

[mrTECHMASTER1]

hey where did u get the remote from ( i live in the UK)

[RammsteinOLive]

What kinda projector did you use? And what did it cost?

Thanks

[x3rs3s]

Very good video.

I hadn't thought about the Ballumn.

Thanks!

[LarryLuv37]

Fantastic and informative. I'm going to try this in an unfinished basement of a rented condo and see if I can be as pleased as you are with your setup. Cheers!

[AJones413]

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[tommmmmer]

Nice vid, actually made me think twice about going all 1080p and building an ugly pelmit and installing a projector mount in the lounge when I only use it a couple times a week.

[spadge2356]

Nice setup and a useful vid for first time AV setups! I've got something similar. You've got a gorgeous stand, where did you get it?

[AL3O2]

its cheaper but its still not cost effective

[danz409]

needs more valume. can't hear much without turning my system to max

[maxpower1870]

Looks like eddy from bottom

[joethebrave]

Very similar to my old setup, had to dismantle it when I moved house though its all in storage. Brilliant.

[panchogordo1]

You could have used hooks that look on the other side of the drywall. That is what I did and it works well.

[exoticdisease1]

Make a new video for your new setup ? I'm very interested in this switcher device. Perhaps I'll do a video of my setup and you could advise? Yours is very nice and surreptitious, I'm impressed.

[NiksDjs]

Why do u have 2 xbox 360's

[Vectrexuk]

@NiksDjs I don't - perhaps you are looking at the Sky TV Decoder?

[blackbel4T]

@NiksDjs thats an hd dvd add-on

[mrbromfield]

@NiksDjs its the xbox hd player

[turkstarnyc]

He uses a BALUM which is £75 plus your network cable costs which he says that it is cheaper but you can buy HDMI leads for £20 for 15 meter or £32 for 20 meter

[Vectrexuk]

@turkstarnyc I put this video together a year and a half ago - when HDMI matrix switchers cost a fortune and were hard to find. I now use a 4x2 HDMI matrix switcher and a 15 metre HDMI lead. The Component switcher and the cat5e lead and baluns were decommissioned about a year ago.

[ucheucheuche]

I actually watched the whole video without complaining!

[jtmj06]

Brilliant video! A true cheap cinema setup worthy of being in my home. Kudos to you!

[garth1288]

i have this sort of setup already with 92 inch screen a home theatre pc with wireless all in one keyboard and trackball mouse,a optoma hd 65 720 projector,i do think its a shame when people dont have a clue and go buy a nasty 800x600 chinese projector off ebay only to realise it isnt hd at all and looks terrible,check the NATIVE resolution people u want 1280x720 or higher also highest lumens and contrast ratio

[wcx2]

Good stuff

[xeniast]

One of the best instructional videos on youtube.

[whiterabbit2009]

Great video and so clearly shows how easy it is to set up , i have got my eye on a projector and screen and will not spend four grand just to get a 60 inch plasma when I can do this for so much less.

[irishgal123456789]

nice vid well explained and simpley put good tutorial

[pixie2097]

Awesome, great vid. Spending for the next few years has been decided.

Any chance of a vid explaining the wiring of the network cable?

[michaelhamer100]

is this a hd ready projector of full hd ?

[BeBionicUK]

Fantastic video!! Discovery should give you your own show on how to build a home cinema......crazy idea? I think not.

Many thanks indeed.

[Vectrexuk]

Thanks old chap - very much appreciated. I'm still available for TV if anyone is interested......anyone.....hel­lo......

[RetroGam3rFan]

This is a good informative video, thanks for posting this. I've been toying with the idea of doing this type of thing and this has helped a lot.

[VideoMoveProductions]

Thx, it was helpful!

[Biggiebarrow]

lol tht was a nice cheap way of gettin it done im def gunna copy u

[Quickblood1]

Great Video mate!

[PidgeLewis]

man you should be on the tv ( your own show i mean )

[Techmoan]

Thanks for the compliment .

I would settle for a bit-part on someone else's show though ;-)

[PidgeLewis]

you should seriously look into it, oh and im thinking about purchasing a projector from ebay for around £230 am sure you may have seen them is this a wise desision or can you recomend a fairly cheap one , thanks pidge

[KentuckyFriedCock]

Fantastic. I also installed a projector in my bedroom with surround and tower speakers for less than 500 pounds. Highly recommended.

[gregmuskett]

im looking at buying a project at the moment and this video has been very helpful and straight to the point, thankyou : )

[davefilms345]

yep very good way to show ppl that u dont have to spend thousands of pounds on av equipment when u can spend it on the most simpleist of things.. ( but then u get what u pay for these days) its a really good video

[wwwNooBcom]

That looks good, still too much money for me, im about to by a projector, shity acer one from curries for about 279 quid i think it is, then buy a hifi system, £129 song thing from argos will do me, Then a £100 screen from curries again then all that stuff to hook them up together and make it work

[TobiasVkn94]

Where can you buy the remote control light switch?

[Vectrexuk]

It's from B&Q - just stick this into google to get a link to the product... "EAN: 5013529994922"

[TobiasVkn94]

Thanks very much!

Great video by the way!

[Flipflopab]

Its nice to see a video from somebody who simply doesn't simply want to boast. keep up the great vids. 5*'s

[suttonguy]

top video......explained simply and the end result looks great.thanks for posting.

[AMID2009]

i like your coffee table . where did you buy it from.

[Vectrexuk]

Ashamed to say it was from Asda - one of those limited offers they stock from time to time.

[techboy6172]

good one mate thanks

[girlsdrinkfeck]

nice video , i made my cheap home cinema setup in late 2007 , i only have a benw svga projector that was £320 from ebuyer , and i made a screen using a plyboard painted white that i prop up on a media stand lol , it does the job , and i use them dirt cheap scart/RCA switch boxes to connect everything , obviously not a hdmi switch box cas i view videos in SD , i was gonna get a hd projector , but i download movies in xbid or divx and quality is still good enough for me and my mates :)

[Vectrexuk]

Looks like you beat me on price. As long as you are happy with it that's all that matters.

[Colinmck16]

Where can i get 10 meters of HDMI cable and how much will it cost.?

Cheers

[Vectrexuk]

Best place I found was Ebay - £10 including p&p.

Any HDMI lead will do - no need to pay any more.

[girlsdrinkfeck]

nest place for a hdmi lead is always wilkonsons ( uk) , makes me laugh when people spend £50 on like 3 metres , hdmi is digital and the signal is either on or off so cable quality shouldnt affect the image

[TheHooley91]

well ye it does but no quality does matter but the differnce only effects when u go sum think like allimunim which cat 5 is to stranded copper cable which has a lower restistance

[masterisme1111]

Ebay £15

[LTLemon]

is that cap 5 thing a ethernet leed? and how many feet away does the projector need to be to get it that size

[Vectrexuk]

Yes the Cat5 cable is Ethernet cable. I have now linked it up with a long HDMI lead instead.

My projector is approx 9ft from the screen - you can try out projectors and distances using a distance calculator on projector central - they all vary quite a lot. A short throw projector could get that size from much less distance.

[LTLemon]

thanks alot man, realy interested in getting a projector end up wanting every gadget these days :/ , anyway keep up the vids, and is the techmoan account yours?

[Vectrexuk]

Yes - I moved across to Techmoan to keep everything linked together from my half-arsed blog, twitter and youtube.

[AtomicTEETH]

By pound, does he mean bucks? money? dollars?

[stingrn]

uk money not usa money !

[Flipflopab]

£;s

[Cujo101]

Thanks Vectrexuk, I first watched your video last October and I ended up buying a HD700X a month later. It was the best £400 that I've spent on av equipment - Also picked up a 88" glass beaded screen, 4 way HDMI switching box and 4 HDMI cables for under £100. Watching HD films and playing games on it is still amazing after 8 months. I couldn't consider a large plasma or LCD now.

[Vectrexuk]

That's great news - thanks for posting the update. I found that once I'd got used to my projector, 40" TV's looked a bit sad in comparison - and setting one up isn't as difficult or expensive as most people think.

My Sharp Z3000 is still going strong (now routed via HDMI) , but when the bulb fails -(probably in a couple of years) I'll have to replace it immediately with another projector. There is no going back.

I'm currently looking forward to big screen Watchmen on Blu-Ray this weekend.

[Cujo101]

Cheers Vectrexuk, I went to a Projector demo and I could not believe what I was watching. Anyone with any doubts should demo a decent projector to see what I mean. I have just reached 500 hrs on a 3000hr bulb and though I'm tempted by Optoma's new HD20 (1080p) projector, I think I 'll keep what I've got for a little longer.

[JoEbeE84]

Great vid! going to buy a hd700x (or hd65 if i can see it cheap enough at the time) in the next couple of days and pretty much doing the same, a budget yet effective way of having home cinema. Black out blinds are life saving and highly recomended as just a little ambient light can take alot of detail away from the projected image.

Again a great vid!!!

[Vectrexuk]

Thanks for the comments. This video is getting on for a year old now and in that time my Sky HD box died and I had to replace it with a newer Pace model that only had the one HDMI out and no Component. That forced me to ditch the Component switchbox & Baluns and get a 4x2 (4 in 2 out)HDMI Matrix switcher. The new Sky HD Box goes into this, as does my BDP-S350 Blu-ray player, the Popcorn Hour NMT100 as well as the AMP's HDMI out. All the video is now routed to the projector via a 10m HDMI lead.

[macogley]

Great video!

[stevolim]

absolutely genius

will try give it a go, might try hang the projector instead of stool, don't have missus on my back lol

[Vectrexuk]

My projector is a Sharp XV-Z3000 it produces 1200 ANSI lumens. The alternative I mentioned is the Optoma HD700X which produces 1300 ANSI lumens.

An excellent resource for comparing different specs is the ProjectorCentral website. They have loads of reviews and spec sheets for almost every model.

[blackoutgang09]

how many lummens are your projectors??????

[blackoutgang09]

how many lummens was your old and your new projectors??????

[SkippyYTUK]

Nice and informative video, very well presented, thanks. 5 stars.

[tmaxxracer32]

hey i am interested in getting one of these but would be using it for gaming also. how does it compare to you 46' as far as playing ps3 or xbox?

is the quality anything like the 46 because having a good picture is a big deal to me.

thanks!

[Vectrexuk]

I think it's absolutely excellent for games. The DLP projectors have no lag or smear unlike an LCD TV. As long as you can black-out your room it will blow you away. The only downside is that there might be some games that make you feel sick on a massive screen if you are prone to motion sickness. That said, I've played a lot of Call Of Duty on the PJ and it was so atmospheric it was like being in a film. It also gives you an advantage in multiplayer games because you can spot every tiny movement

[Vectrexuk]

This video is probably a bit out of date now. I've since upgraded my matrix switcher to an HDMI model (this was due to replacing my HD Satellite box with one that only had a single HDMI out). At the time I made this video HDMI switchers cost a fortune - but nowadays you can get a 4x2 switchbox (4 in 2 out) for about £100. All you need then is a long HDMI lead (mine is 10 metres) and you can forget about the Cat5 and the Baluns). Cat5 is still the best way to send Component long distances though

[quickmantan]

the only thing i want to put through my projector is my ps3.. all my equiptment is on the other side of the room too,, i dont fancy having to buy a ballon and switch box, cause thats almost £200 worth or gear.. so if i get a 10 metre hdmi cable i think itll reach but how would i get ound from my ps3 into my sorround sound,, please help

[Vectrexuk]

That should be really easy.

Route the video to the projector via your long HDMI cable and send your sound from the PS3 to your Amp/AV equipment.

There are two ways to get sound out of the PS3 - for best results use the Optical out socket to send a digital sound source to your equipment.

If your amp doesn't have a digital in then all is not lost - you can route the stereo sound from the normal phono (red/white) leads from the AV multi out socket and send the video via the HDMI lead.

[quickmantan]

thanks that sounds good, and pretty simple, thanks i want a 720p projector too but i dont want to spend over £400 cause the screen cost £100 so im budgeting myself at £500

[neilmahima]

so why cat5e?

[Vectrexuk]

It was the only decent wire I could get hold of where the cable used solid core wires rather than strands. (solid core crimps better into a cat5 plug) I got it from Maplin in the UK.

[toypajns182]

I have just one thing to complain about...

at 3:52 you said 69" but then you wrote 96"... lol, not really a complaint...

[Vectrexuk]

I said 16:9 - that's the screen ratio.

Probably my accent.

[toypajns182]

yeah sorry, Thought I heard it right...

[ruaridh66]

this is a really good video!!

[maestro66uk]

Well done that man. Watching this video makes me want to highlight my home cinema system! Nothing better than a movie on the BIG screen!

[cornishpastypirate]

Hi good vid where can i get a shineybow and roughly how much are they thanks(model no would be good if it has one thanks)

[Vectrexuk]

The one I own is a Shinybow SB-5470

I imported it from the US from "lenexpo-electronics" where they currently sell the same model as the 4x2 ATLONA COMPONENT VIDEO MATRIX SWITCH

If I was getting one in the UK today I would buy item number AVT5842MX from "keene electronics"

[dorrito2001]

Great video!

[Vectrexuk]

Thanks - appreciated.

[Vectrexuk]

You're right, that is the hardest part. Believe it or not I went for the gamble and didn't tell her until they were delivered.

I considered saying that I'd won it in a competition - but you could do the usual thing of adjusting the price down by half.

The best way to gain the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) after that is to set it up when she's not around and make sure the first film you project is her one of her favorites (Seabiscuit in my case) in HD. After that it's plain sailing....

[shortshins]

very good vid mate,you make it look pretty simple the hard part now is convincing the missus to buy a projector and screen lol!

[danmyers22]

Great vid mate, cheers

[Vectrexuk]

Thanks Dan.

[Vectrexuk]

It's easier with an AV amplifier as you can route the sound outputs from a number of different devices into the amplifier to play through your speakers.

Most combined DVD Surround systems don't have any additional sound inputs so you couldn't (for example) play the sound from a PS3/360 through your 5.1 speakers.

Best way to experiment is to turn off the TV and see if you can hear the sound from all the devices you want to put through the projector.

[3tniesDc]

you were saying you need a av reciever and amplifier but do you need one if you buying a home cinema system (dvd Speakers and sub)

[arnolddisco]

Very helpful- Thanks

[Vectrexuk]

Excellent news - you won't regret it, nothing beats watching your favourite film on a big screen in the comfort of your own house.

Thanks for the feedback.

[maxonwaxoff]

thank you, you have convinced me to get a 720p projector(or build one) rather than 1080p, as my room ain't that big.

[anomalygpa]

cool